Hard Work for Higher Purpose

I'm sure anyone who has been involved in political campaigns is well aware of what hard work it is. There are so many jobs to be done: press releases, leaflet writing, leaflet delivering (oh the pounding of pavements in the cold), interminable hours on the telephone, letter writing, database maintenance, canvassing, fundraising... the list goes on and on. And in a place like West Wales where the population is spread all over the place, and there aren't many willing people to be found to help, that work gets harder still as it is divided between very few committed and able bodies. It does feel like something of an uphill struggle sometimes. So, what motivates me to work so hard voluntarily for the Liberal Democrats? What makes someone who is naturally really quite lazy (and I believe all human beings fall into this category) get up and out and put in, then maintain all this effort? There are a combination of factors. In this post I aim to explain, for the benefit of new members or non-members specifically, what it is that keeps me enthralled and where my motivation comes from. I warn you in advance, this is likely to be an epic post!

I can't understate the amount of support I have from the Liberal Democrat Party both locally, regionally and at large. This support comes from a variety of directions, and in a variety of ways.

Locally, I am part of a small and geographically spread but nonetheless cohesive and impressive team of active members. I make no secret of the fact that I have favourites among them - notably our PPC and his wife, John and Elizabeth Gossage, without whom I would know next to nothing and on whom I tend to lean quite heavily when I feel overwhelmed. They have decades of experience and reserves of patience that I can only assume took all those years to distill and I really don't know what I would do without them. They (particularly John) take on a lot of the necessary workload, along with other experienced local members - more than I do in fact - and do it well - better than I might in fact at this stage. So part of my motivation comes from them, both because I know they are there to support me and because I feel a desire to alleviate some of their burden. A huge part of my self-belief (such as it is) comes from the respect which I am afforded by the members of the local party. In common with the party at all levels, as a party member I have the right to contribute to any level of discussion and decision making, and every sensible suggestion I make is given equal weight and consideration as contributions from the more established and longstanding members. How wrong I was to assume when I joined the party that despite my enthusiasm and intellect I would be expected to defer completely to those who "knew what they were doing" and follow instruction. How delighted I am that I could have been so wrong.

Regionally, the Welsh party is a surprisingly strong political animal. We may only have six Assembly Members in the Cardiff Parliament, but despite this seemingly small presence the Welsh Liberal Democrats manage to spearhead some very successful campaigns, win debates (the most shining example in this parliament being the motion not to allow ID cards to be used as a requirement for access to public services in Wales which are within the remit of the Assembly) and achieve things that I as part of the same organisation can feel some pride in. As well as this more abstract stirring of my positive inclinations, the Welsh party endeavour to provide as much training and as many opportunities to have a say in policy matters as possible for all members. Three weeks ago, I attended a Kickstart training weekend in Llandrindod Wells organised by the ALDC, which gave me some really valuable insights and help for my new role as my own local party's membership secretary and for my own election campaign. Next weekend, I will be attending my third regional conference in the space of ten months. I am looking forward to seeing friends I have made over that time and kept in touch with online and by telephone - Cllr Mike Powell of Pontypridd, cllr Mark Cole of Ceredigion, Peter Black AM and party manager Ian Walton all deserve mentions for keeping me sane and providing me with experienced advice and some practical help at times, though they are by no means the only ones. I am also looking forward to some sparkling debates, to voting on motions which go on to form regional policy, and generally to coming home feeling more optimistic than ever, if a little tired!

Nationally too, my humble opinions count and whatever the grand titles of people I meet or converse with, I have yet to find anyone who is aloof or cold. On the contrary, though there are inevitably people with whom I disagree on some level, I found almost everyone to be warm, welcoming and pleased to share ideas and give advice. I attended my first federal conference in Brighton last Autumn (with financial support from my local party, who recognised that I was serious about becoming a candidate and wished me to benefit from training events there) and it was simultaneously the most draining and the most inspiring weekend of my life, with no exaggeration. I would recommend a party conference to anyone as an experience, regardless of how small an interest they think they would have in it. I came home with raised confidence in myself, a sheaf of notes from training sessions, a wallet full of business cards from new friends in high places, and a head full of ideas. Ever since then, when I have heard our MPs on the radio saying what I had been grumbling under my breath already about the news before they were interviewed, or read about their campaigns and comments on issues of the day in newspapers, I have felt a sense of pride only surpassed by that I have in my family members. I am part of this


Outside the party, I am lucky to find support too.

My partner, RJ, is a stoical, steadfast type and ideally matched to me. While I am fretting and stressing about how much I have to do, he is calmly taking control of mundane household affairs for me without so much as a word. Without him, I would not say this whole venture were impossible, but it would be highly improbable. The party provides creche facilities at conferences, but my four-year-old daughter is far happier to stay at home when I am halfway across the country for a couple of days at a time, and RJ has never once complained aloud about the amount of time he is forced to take on extra responsibility while I am away doing something which may be important to me, but doesn't bring the family anything tangible. I am not sure I could be so selfless. My mother is also a source of support and inspiration for me. She instilled in me from my earliest youth a sense of how important politics was, and has always been most proud of me when I am expressing myself, whether or not she necessarily agrees with my viewpoint. She has that special, indomitable spirit common to women of Northern stock throughout history, and my inheritance of that is perhaps her greatest gift to me. Since I joined the party, she has also been at the receiving end of more than a few telephone calls where her job is to talk me down from top-note can't-cope back to I-can-do-anything. My friends are a mixed bag - they are mostly puzzled by my interest in politics in general, but so supportive that I have even had a handful of them out leafleting for me when I've been under pressure. So, my family and friends back me up and that is invaluable.

Finally but by no means least important, a lot of my strength of conviction, and my motivation to put work into Liberal Democrat ventures, comes from my own values and lifelong interests.  These also spell out why it is the Liberal democrats I fell for a long, long time ago and not any other party.

Put simply, the Liberal Democrats' ideas fit with my own. Having lived on the edge of what is considered poverty in the Western World for more of my life than I care to admit, how can I fail to be attracted by a party which is genuinely concerned with creating a fairer society, eradicating poverty and increasing social mobility? Why would I support anyone else when the Liberal Democrats are fighting for a local income tax to replace council tax, for example - lifting many people out of poverty by ensuring that they only need pay what they can actually afford for local services. As someone who has suffered ill health, and dental problems, and relied on the National Health Service in its current guise to get better, how could I not support the policy of a patients charter which spell out minimum rights and standards of access to care, and an extension of the individual budgets system so that patients can choose to some extent how they are treated, rather than getting what they are given? With a bright four-year-old daughter to bring up, I believe the Liberal Democrats have all the right ideas about education, with aims to bring funding in the most needy schools up to private education levels, ensuring that the next generation are well equipped to lead the world into the future.

Finally, since I was very young, I have been aware of global problems. The news as I grew up in the eighties was dominated by issues such as the hole in the ozone layer and famine in Ethiopia - it occurred to me even as a child that these problems should not be the responsibility of charities to solve, that they should be eradicated at source if the world worked the way it should, if
resources were used ethically and shared responsibly. This may seem remote from Liberal Democrat policy at first glance, but there is an important link: the Liberal Democrats have had green issues at the heart of their policies and agenda since long before it was fashionable. the Liberal Democrats are and always have been in favour of Britain's integration into Europe. If we could put aside our notions that national sovereignty is more important than the survival of the planet and the human race as a whole, we would see that a federal Europe is an important step in establishing a more global view of the biggest problems that face us all. Look at the power and influence of the United States - that didn't come overnight. The states within the union have differing characters and if history had taken another course, they may be as distinct and subject to infighting now as the nations within Europe. It was only because of the threat of rule from Britain that they banded together so tightly, under one government, but even then it was not done lightly, and the constitution was met with considerable social resistance - but I don't think you would find many Americans now who would argue that generations later they do not benefit from the arrangement. And, importantly, generations later, those individual states have retained dispersed powers and their individual characters have been largely retained - a model if ever one were needed to prove that integration under a larger government need not mean a loss of identity. With two such superpowers co-operating with one another and working for the benefit of the planet rather than their individual gain, it is conceivable that we could achieve world peace and enough food to go around. A lofty aim indeed and you may call me an idealist for it, but if some of us don't work for it and believe in it, it will never happen